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The authors tested whether sexual traumatization is associated with poorer health behavior and also evaluated the role of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in this relationship. They mailed questionnaires to 419 women who had visited a San Diego Veterans Administration primary care clinic in 1998 and received 221 responses, a 56% return rate. They found that a history of sexual assault was associated with increased substance use, risky sexual behaviors, less vigorous exercise, and increased preventive healthcare. They then used regression-based techniques to test whether PTSD mediates the relationship between a history of sexual assault and health behaviors and discovered support for this hypothesis in relation to substance use. PTSD symptoms were also associated with less likelihood of conducting regular breast self-examinations. Findings from the study highlight the value of programs designed to (1) identify trauma victims, (2) screen for problematic behaviors, and (3) intervene to improve long-term health outcomes.

The impact of maternal history of maltreatment and psychopathology on mother-child relationship, parenting, and infant temperament was evaluated. Women completed self-report measures addressing childhood trauma, psychopathology, infant-parent relationship, parenting, and infant temperament. Maternal physical abuse was associated with poorer mother-child interactions, increased vigilance, and difficulty recovering from distress among infants, whereas a history of emotional abuse was linked with less interactional dysfunction, lower levels of infant frustration, and more pleasure. Maternal depression was associated with infant temperament and attitudes about parenting. These findings suggest that maternal history of childhood abuse and psychopathology are important determinants of parenting and infant temperament.

ObjectiveTo better concurrently address emotional and neuropsychological symptoms common in veterans with comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and history of traumatic brain injury (TBI), we integrated components of compensatory cognitive training from the Cognitive Symptom Management and Rehabilitation Therapy (CogSMART) programme into cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for PTSD to create a hybrid treatment, SMART-CPT (CogSMART+CPT). This study compared the efficacy of standard CPT with SMART-CPT for treatment of veterans with comorbid PTSD and history of TBI reporting cognitive symptoms.MethodsOne hundred veterans with PTSD, a history of mild to moderate TBI and current cognitive complaints were randomised and received individually delivered CPT or SMART-CPT for 12 weeks. Participants underwent psychological, neurobehavioural and neuropsychological assessments at baseline, on completion of treatment and 3 months after treatment.ResultsBoth CPT and SMART-CPT resulted in clinically significant reductions in PTSD and postconcussive symptomatology and improvements in quality of life. SMART-CPT resulted in additional improvements in the neuropsychological domains of attention/working memory, verbal learning/memory and novel problem solving.ConclusionSMART-CPT, a mental health intervention for PTSD, combined with compensatory cognitive training strategies, reduces PTSD and neurobehavioural symptoms and also provides added value by improving cognitive functioning.